Magnetically responsive card retrieval system

ABSTRACT

Card retrieval system for physically shifting and thereby selecting desired cards having a predetermined notch pattern along a sorting edge and a ferromagnetic member in a transverse edge from undesired cards having a different notch pattern and a ferromagnetic member including, a horizontal platen for supporting the cards with their respective sorting and transverse edges and ferromagnetic members aligned, a plurality of sorting bars disposed transversely of said sorting edge adjacent said notches, a sorting bar actuator for selectively moving said sorting bars into said notches, a dual-purpose elongated magnet disposed adjacent the ferromagnetic members of the cards which is movable in a direction parallel to the card sorting edges to separate the desired and undesired cards and which has a magnetic center below that of the ferromagnetic members to bias the sorting edges of the cards against the platen prior to magnet movement, thereby properly orienting the cards relative to the platen prior to sorting.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Daniel J. Bandenburg Cincinnati, Ohio [2]] Appl. No 840,111 [22] Filed June 16, 1969 [45] Patented Oct. 5, 1971 [73] Assignee OK Partnership Cincinnati, Ohio [54] MAGNETICALLY RESPONSIVE CARD RETRIEVAL SYSTEM 3 Claims, 14 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl

[51] Int. Cl [50] Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,495,491 l/l950 Whitson 2,638,098 5/1953 Toepper 3,478,877 11/1969 Parry ABSTRACT: Card retrieval system for physically shifting and thereby selecting desired cards having a predetermined notch pattern along a sorting edge and a ferromagnetic member in a transverse edge from undesired cards having a different notch pattern and a ferromagnetic member including, a horizontal platen for supporting the cards with their respective sorting and transverse edges and ferromagnetic members aligned, a plurality of sorting bars disposed transversely of said sorting edge adjacent said notches, a sorting bar actuator for selectively moving said sorting bars into said notches, a dual-purpose elongated magnet disposed adjacent the ferromagnetic members of the cards which is movable in a direction parallel to the card sorting edges to separate the desired and undesired cards and which has a magnetic center below that of the ferromagnetic members to bias the sorting edges of the cards against the platen prior to magnet movement, thereby properly orienting the cards relative to the platen prior to sortmg.

PATENTED um sum SHEET 3 [IF 4 INVENTOR.

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v.. M 1 J K g d 1 3 m v- A' 1:. w my! I w W m n w i 111 I1 \\-\A I a M MAGNETICALLY RESPONSIVE CARD RETRIEVAL SYSTEM This invention relates to card retrieval systems of the type in which card selection from a deck of similar cards which are implanted with a ferromagnetic chip randomly stored on a horizontal platen in vertical face-to-face relation is efiected by laterally shifting, under the force of a movable magnet, one or more of the stored cards while restraining against movement the undesired cards, thereby physically separating the desired cards, thereby physically separating the desired cards from those not desired. More particularly, this invention relates to a magnet useful in systems of the type described which, in addition to attracting the cards to physically separate those desired from those not desired, also functions to properly orient the cards relative to the platen prior to shifting the magnet to effect card separation.

A card retrieval system of the general type with which the dual purpose magnet of this invention finds an extraordinarily high degree of utility is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Robert D. Parry, for ARTICLE SELECTION SYSTEM, Ser. No. 661,758, filed Aug. 4, 1967 and now U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,877. In accordance with the general principles of the Parry system, a plurality of rectangular cards are provided, each having teeth formed along a sorting edge, preferably the bottom edge, which are selectively removable for coding purposes and which are spaced from each other by intermediate registration notches. The cards are also provided with a lock notch and removed corner section. The lock notch and removed comer section are positioned along the sorting edge between the group of removable teeth and their associated registration notches, and an adjacent card side edge herein termed the trailing edge. The Parry card further includes a ferromagnetic implant or chip mounted in the vertical edge of the card opposite the trailing edge, herein termed the leading edge.

A plurality or deck of cards, numbering up to approximately 2,000 cards, are randomly stored, in accordance with the Parry system, in face-to-face vertical relation in a card selector apparatus. The card selector apparatus is provided with a horizontally disposed planar slotted platen which supports the upstanding cards. The orientation of the platen and cards relative to each other is such that the code-notched sorting edges of the randomly stored cards rest on the platen with their sorting edges transverse to the platen slots. Disposed in the platen slots are a plurality of code, or sort, bars corresponding in number to, and aligned with, the registration notches formed by the spaces between the code-notchable teeth. The sort bars, which nonnally are positioned with their upper edges flush with the top surface of the platen, are selectively elevatable to an upper, or set, position wherein their upper edges protrude above the platen into the associated card registration notches of the stored cards. Located parallel to the sort bars and opposite the lock notches of the stored cards is a transversely disposed lock bar which is selectively elevatable to a card lock position. In the card lock position the lock bar is susceptive of being positioned in the lock notches of those cards whose lock notches are aligned with the lock bars. An elongated magnet is transversely disposed relative to the stored cards opposite and in alignment with the ferromagnetic chips implanted in the leading edges of the cards. The elongated magnet is mounted on a drawerlike structure for movement toward and away from the implanted ferromagnetic chips of cards positioned in their normal stored position on the platen, that is, the magnet is mounted for movement in a direction parallel to the sorting edges of the stored cards.

Card selection in the Parry retrieval system is effected in two sequential phases, namely, an initial separation phase and a final separation phase. The initial separation phase is accomplished by elevating or setting the sort bars in a pattern conforming to the removed tooth pattern of the desired card or cards, and thereafter moving the magnet a distance equal to one tooth in a direction parallel to the sorting edge. Ideally the desired cards, that is, the cards having a removed tooth pattern conforming to that of the set sort bars, shift laterally in the direction of their sorting edges a distance equal to the width of one tooth, and in so doing align their removed corner sections in the trailing edge with the lock bar. This movement is possible because the teeth of the desired cards located adjacent to the set sort bars are removed by virtue of the code notching process. The undesired cards, that is, those cards with a nonconforming removed tooth pattern, are not free to move in a direction parallel to their sorting edge, and consequently remain stationary, leaving their trailing edge lock notches aligned with the lock bar. Once initially separated, the desired cards are further separated from the undesired cards to effect the final separation phase by moving the magnet further in a direction parallel to the card sorting edges an additional distance, the magnitude of which depends on the amount of separation between the selected and unselected cards which is ultimately desired.

However, prior to moving the magnet of the Parry selector the additional distance necessary to effect further separation of the desired and undesired cards, the lock bar'is elevated to engage the lock notches of the unselected cards which have remained stationary and aligned with the lock bar during the initial phase of magnet movement. The elevated lock bar does not engage the lock notches of the desired cards because these cards, in the course of the initial separation phase of the retrieval process, shifted relative to the undesired cards in a direction parallel to their sorting edges a distance sufficient to locate the lock bar in transverse registry with the removed comer sections of the desired cards. With the lock notches of only the undesired cards engaged by the set lock bar, the sort bars are reset and the magnet moved further in a direction parallel to the sorting edge. This further separates the desired cards from the undesired cards which are positively restrained from movement by the lock bar which engages their lock notches. Thus, the lock bar of the Parry selector positively prevents, during the final separation phase, selection of undersired cards.

After the desired cards, which have been selected and physically separated from the undesired cards as a consequence of the card selection cycle, have been processed and the data thereon copied, updated, modified, reviewed, changed or the like, the selected cards are returned to storage in the deck among the undesired cards which remain stationary during the card selection cycle. Return of the previously selected cards is accomplished by the Parry selector by first-inserting the trailing edges of the cards into the deck of unselected cards, thereby returning the previously selected cards to a condition wherein they are only partially separated from the unselected cards. With the previously selected cards so positioned, the magnet is thereafter moved in a direction parallel to the sorting edges of the cards to its normal position adjacent the ferromagnetic chips of the unselected cards. Movement of the magnet in this manner imparts positioning motion to the previously selected cards, returning them to storage in the deck.

In a system of the Parry type, described above, there is a tendency, in the course of returning the selected cards to the deck, for certain of the unselected cards, particularly those adjacent returning selected cards, to tilt and become vertically displaced in a manner such that the portion of the card sorting edge adjacent the ferromagnetic implant is spaced from the platen. lf the tilting-induced vertical displacement between the platen and the portion of the sorting edge adjacent the ferromagnetic chip is sufficient, it is possible, in a subsequent card retrieval cycle, for an erroneous sort to occur. Specifically, with the sorting edge sufi'iciently displaced from the platen the code notchable teeth will not properly engage the set sort bars, and a card which should not be selected may, in fact, be selected.

The tilting of cards which produces displacement between the sorting edge and the platen in a Parry-type selector, and which can lead to erroneous card selections in a manner indicated, can be attributed to two factors which can occur either along or in combination. One cause of card tilting is the frictional force exerted on an unselected card by an adjacent selected card as the adjacent selected card is returned to the deck. When a previously selected card is returned to the deck, the returning card exerts a horizontal frictional force on those unselected cards which are adjacent thereto. The horizontal frictional force exerted on the unselected card by the returning selected card, while distributed over the entire height of the card, can be considered as a single force directed horizontally parallel to the sorting edge through a point midway between the sorting edge and the upper edge of the card. With such a frictional force applied to the unselected card by a returning selected card, should the trailing edges of the unselected cards locate against a member not extending beyond the upper half of the card, the unselected card tends to pivot or tilt about the comer defined by the intersection of the trailing and sorting edges.

The second factor contributing to tilting of unselected cards when the previously selected cards are returned to the deck is the magnetic attractive force exerted by the magnet upon the ferromagnetic chip of the unselected cards as the magnet nears its normal or home position. In the system described in the above-referenced Parry application, the shape of the ferromagnetic chip is generally in the form of an L," having vertical and horizontal legs disposed parallel to the leading and sorting edges of the card. The magnet of the Parry system, which cooperates with the card chip, has a vertical dimension substantially coextensive with the length of the vertical leg of the L-shaped chip. By virtue of this magnet and chip configuration, as the magnet approaches the chips of the unselected cards in the course of returning the previously selected cards to the deck, the magnet exerts an attractive force on the chips of the unselected cards. This force has both a horizontal component and an upward component. The upward component tends to lift the chip, and hence the portion of the sorting edge of the card adjacent the chip, upwardly. Such upward chip movement adds to the tilt of the cards which already have been tilted by virtue of the frictional force described above. As for those unselected cards not tilted upwardly by frictional forces, due to the fact that they were not adjacent returning selected cards, the upward component of the attractive force exerted by the magnet on the chips of unselected cards tends to provide an initial upward tilt to these cards.

In the preferred card selector embodiment disclosed in the Parry application, the problem of card tilting occasioned by frictional and/or upward magnet attractive force components is obviated by the combination which includes notching the leading edges of all of the cards and providing an elongated cam disposed parallel to and above, the magnet. As the magnet returns to its normal or home position adjacent the chips of the unselected cards, the cam engages the card notches, camming downwardly all unselected cards, Thus, any unselected card which may have become tilted by frictional and/or vertical magnetic attractive forces is returned to its proper position with its sorting edge in contact with the platen.

It has been an objective of this invention to provide, in a card retrieval system of the Parry type, simple and effective means for properly positioning the card sorting edges relative to the platen which eliminate the need for the cam and notches used in the preferred selector embodiment disclosed in the Parry application. This objective has been accomplished in accordance with certain principles of this invention by the extraordinarily simple, but yet unobvious, expedient of configuring the vertical cross section of the magnet such that its magnetic center is below the magnetic center of the chip with which it is associated. By providing a magnet having a magnetic center below that of the card chip with which it cooperates, the upward component of attractive force between the magnet and the chips, which exists when the magnet is nearing its normal or home position, is eliminated. Thus, the unselected cards are not tilted upwardly by the magnet as the magnet is returning to its home position in the course of returning the selected cards to the deck. Additionally, the

magnet by virtue of the fact that its magnetic center is below that of the chips with which it cooperates, exerts a magnetic attractive force on the chips, as the magnet nears its home position, which is in the downward direction. This downward attractive force applied by the returning magnet to the chips of the unselected cards tends to return to the proper position, with their sorting edges in contact with the platen, those cards which have been tilted upwardly by friction forces.

These and other objectives of the invention will become more readily apparent from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a retrieval system of the type disclosed in the previously referenced Parry application and with which the magnet of this invention possess a high degree of utility.

FIGS 2-6 are schematic side elevational views of a portion of the preferred embodiment of the card selector disclosed in the previously referenced Parry application showing the relationship, during the initial and final phases of the card selection cycle, of the magnet, platen, sorting and lock bars, and the desired and undesired cards.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic side elevational views of the card selector of FIGS. 2-6 showing the manner in which unselected cards positioned adjacent returning selected cards are tilted by the frictional forces applied thereto by the returning selected cards.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side elevational view of the card selector of FIGS. 2-8 showing the manner in which unselected cards are tilted by the magnet as the magnet nears the home position and exerts an upward attractive force on the chip of an unselected card which tends to tilt the card. FIG. 10 is a schematic side elevational view of the card selector of FIGS. 2-9 showing, upon completion of the card returning phase of the cycle, final position of an unselected card which has been tilted upwardly under the combined action of the frictional forces applied thereto by returning selected cards and the upward component of the magnetic attractive force applied to the chip by the magnet as it nears the home position.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are schematic side elevational views of the preferred embodiment of the Parry card selector disclosed in the previously referenced application showing an elongated cam and associated cam notches located in the leading edges of the cards, and the manner in which the cam and notches reposition tilted cards.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are schematic side elevational view of a card selector of the Parry type utilizing a magnet constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention, showing the manner in which a card tilted by frictional forces applied thereto by a previously selected and returning card is restored to its normal position by the magnet of this invention.

For the purpose of more easily understanding the construction, operation and advantages of the card shifting magnet of this invention, the invention is described in connection with a card retrieval system of the general type disclosed in the previously referenced Parry application, the entire disclosure of which is specifically incorporated herein by reference. The Parry-type retrieval system, as best seen in FIG. 1, includes a keyboard control console 10 and a card selector 12. The keyboard console 10 preferably is of the type disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Robert J. Kalthoff et al. for Console and Control Circuit, Ser. No. 539,792, filed Apr. 4, 1966, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. The card selector 12 includes, enclosed within a housing 13, a stationary horizontally disposed planar platen 20 which supports a deck of randomly stored vertically disposed cards 22. A transversely disposed elongated magnet 24 common to all the cards 22 and in alignment with ferromagnetic chips 23 implanted in the leading edges of the cards is secured to a drawerlike structure 26 for sliding movement between an outer position (FIG. 6) to which desired cards are advanced in a manner to be described and an inner, or home, position (FIG. 2) in which the magnet 24 is in contact with the ferromagnetic implants 23 when the cards are stored in their normal position.

As best seen in FIGS. 2-6, the cards 22 each have a toothed sorting edge 32, preferably the lower edge thereof, provided with alternate teeth 34-1 to 34-6 and registration notches 35-1 to 35-6. Each of the teeth 34-] to 34-6 is susceptive of being encoded by selective removal, as by notching, of the respective tooth. The sorting edge 32 further includes a lock notch 36 located between a group of encodeable teeth 34 and registration notches 35, and the transverse card edge 38 herein termed the trailing edge. Adjacent to the lock notch 36 is a removed portion 40 of the card located intermediate the lock notch 36 and the trailing edge 38. The card 22 further includes the ferromagnetic chip 23 implanted in the card at the corner of the sorting edge 32 and a transverse edge 44 herein termed the leading edge. The chip 23 is generally L- shaped having vertical and horizontal legs 23a and 23b adjacent and parallel to the leading and sorting edges 44 and 32, respectively, of the card 22.

When the cards 22 are in their normal unselected position on the platen 20 of the selector 12, the registration notches 35-] to 35-6 and the lock notch 36 are aligned with a plurality of transversely disposed sort bars 48-1 to 48-6 and a lock bar 50 which are disposed transverse to, and in common with, all the cards. Both the sorting bars 48-1 to 48-6 and the lock bar 50 are appropriately positioned in slots formed in the upper surface of the platen 20. The bars 48-1 to 48-6 and 50 are elevatable from a reset position wherein their upper edges are flush with the upper surface of the platen 20 to a set position wherein they enter their associated notches 35-1 to 35-6, and 36, respectively, of cards located in the storage position. Elevation of the bars 48-1 to 48-6 and 50 is effected by solenoids (not shown) controlled by the keyboard console 10.

To select a card or cards 22 having a particular code, for example, a card 22a having teeth 34-2 and 34-6 removed, from among a group of cards 22b not having teeth 34-2 and 34-6 removed, the appropriate sort bars 48 are elevated to set position. Specifically, sort bars 48-2 and 48-6 corresponding to the removed tooth pattern of the desired card 22a are elevated to the position shown in FIG. 3. With the sort bars 48-2 and 48-6 in a set position, the desired cards 220 having teeth 34-2 and 34-6 removed can be laterally shifted in the direction 46a of arrow 46 a distance equal to the width of one tooth, to produce an initial separation of the desired cards from the undesired cards. However, the undesired cards 22b not having tooth 34-2 and/or tooth 34-6 removed are restrained from lateral movement in the direction 460 of arrow 46 by one or both of the set or elevated sort bars 48-2 and 48-6, which, in the set position, mechanically interfere with the unremoved teeth 34-2 and 34-6 of the undesired cards 22b. With the sort bars 48-2 and 48-6 conforming to the removed tooth pattern of the desired card 22a in the set position, the magnet 24 is shifted from the home position in the direction 46a of arrow 46 a distance equal to the width of one tooth to the position shown in FIG. 4. Those cards free to shift, namely, the desired cards 22a move with the magnet 24 a distance of one tooth width, effecting an initial separation of the desired and undesired cards. Movement of the desired cards 22a in this fashion aligns the removed portion 40 of the desired cards opposite the lock bar 50. The undesired cards 22b do not move in the direction 460 of arrow 46 by reason of the engagement of one or more of their unremoved teeth 34-2 and 34-6 with the set sort bars 48-2 and 48-6, respectively. Consequently, the lock notches 36 of the undesired cards 22b remain aligned with the lock bar 50. At this point the initial phase of the card selection operation is complete.

Further separation of the desired cards 22a from the undersired cards 22b to effect the final card selection phase of the retrieval operation is accomplished by elevating to a set position the lock bar 50, and to an unset position the sort bars 48-2 and 48-6, as shown in FIG. 5. Setting lock bar 50 positively prevents the undesired cards 22b from moving in response to the continued movement of the magnet 24 in the direction 46a of arrow 46. Resetting or lowering the set sort bars 48-2 and 48-6 after the initial card separation phase enables the selected cards 22a to continue movement in the direction 460 of arrow 46 in response to movement of the magnet 24 in this direction, the desired cards 22a being free to move in this direction by reason of the removed portion 40 thereof being aligned with the elevated or set lock bar 50. With the lock bar 50 set and the sort bars 48 all in their lower, reset position, the magnet 24 is advanced further in the direction 46a of arrow 46- to the position shown in FIG. 6, further separating the desired cards 220 from the undersired cards 22b. At this point, the final card selection phase of the retrieval cycle is complete.

When the selected cards 220 have been suitably processed and the data thereon updated, modified, copied, or the like the selected cards are returned to their normal storage position in the deck. This is accomplished by inserting the trailing edge 38 of the selected card 22a back into the deck, if the selected cards were in fact removed, and returning the magnet 24 from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 2 which represents the magnet position at the start of the retrieval cycle. If the selected cards'22a were not removed from their position at the end of the final separation phase of the retrieval cycle depicted in FIG. 6, the selected cards 22a are returned to the deck by merely returning the magnet 24 to the home position.

In the course of returning the selected cards 22a from the position they occupy at the end of the final phase of the retrieval cycle depicted in FIG. 6 to their nonnal position stored in the deck as depicted for example in FIG. 2, the unselected cards 22b, under certain conditions, have atendency to tilt or pivot about their lower rear comer formed by the trailing edge 38 and the sorting edge 32; Tilting or pivoting of one or more of the unselected cards 22b as a consequence of returning the selected cards 22a and magnet 24 to their normal position causes the portion of the'sorting edge 32 located adjacent the ferromagnetic chip 23 to elevate and thereby become vertically displaced from the top surface of the platen 20. If the displacement of the sorting edge 32 from the platen 20 is sufficiently large, and the displaced card is in a given retrieval cycle an undesired card, the sort bars 48 and teeth 34 of the tilted card may fail to properly engage during the initial phase of the card retrieval cycle when certain of the sort bars 48 are in their elevated or set position to normally restrain motion of the undesired cards as the magnet 24 moves the distance of one tooth width to physically separate the desired and undesired cards. If the teeth 34 of the tilted undesired card and the sort bars 48 fail to properly cooperate during the initial phase of the card retrieval cycle, the tilted and undesired card, which should be restrained from movement by engagement of its teeth 34 with the elevated or set sort bars, may in fact fail to be so restrained by virtue of the displacement of its sorting edge 32 from the platen 20, resulting in an erroneous selection of the tilted and undesired card.

To more fully appreciate the manner in which the magnet of this invention obviates the card tilting problem, the manner in which the cards become tilted in the course of returning selected cards to the deck is described in conjunction with FIGS. 7 and 8. When a selected card such as card 22a depicted in FIG. 6 is returned to the deck of unselected cards such as card 22b, the returning selected card 220 exerts frictional forces on the unselected card or cards adjacent to, and past which, the returning selected card is sliding as it travels from the selected position to its position in storage in the deck. The frictional forces applied by the returning selected card 22a are applied in the horizontal direction parallel to the sorting edges 32 and are more or less uniform in magnitude over the height of the card from the sorting edge 32 to the upper edge 33 of the unselected card 2212. The uniformly applied horizontal frictional forces can be represented by their Vector sum, a force, F, which is in the horizontal direction parallel to the sorting edges 32 and passing through a point located midway between the sorting edge 32 and the upper card edge 33.

Thus, the net force applied by the returning selected card 22a to the unselected card 22b adjacent to, and past which, the selected card slides as it is being returned can be represented by the single force F.

The frictional force F applied to the unselected card 22b by the returning selected card 22a is effective, as the selected card 22a moves from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7, to apply a moment FX equal to the product of the force F and the distance X, the distance X constituting the perpendicular distance between the pivot point P about which the unselected card tilts and the line of action of the force F. The pivot point P is established by the point of engagement of the lower portion of the trailing edge 38 of the unselected card 22b and a vertical locating barrier 45 extending upwardly from the right-hand side of the platen 20. The barrier 45 functions to assist in properly locating the registration notches 35 relative to the sorting bars 48.

The frictional moment FX applied to the unselected card 22b by virtue of movement of the selected card 22a from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7 is effective to tilt the unselected card 22b in a direction indicated by the arrow T, raising the portion of the sorting edge 32 adjacent the chip 23 slightly above the upper surface of the platen 20. The tilting of the unselected card 22b continues under the continued action of the frictional moment FX as the previously selected card 220 is further inserted into the deck of unselected cards, moving from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8. The additional tilting of the unselected card 22b in the direction T further elevates the portion of the sorting edge 32 adjacent the chip above the upper surface of the platen 20. Further tilting of the unselected card 22b under the action of the frictional moment FX in the direction of arrow T occurs as the previously selected card 22a is returned to the deck and slides past the unselected card 22b.

As the magnet 24 nears the home position a second factor occurs, in addition to the frictional moment FX, which independently has the effect, in the preferred selector of the previously referenced Parry application, of tilting the unselected card 221;. This second factor is an upward component of an attractive magnetic force exerted on the chip 23 of the unselected card 22b by the magnet 24 as it nears the home position. By reference to FIG. 9 it will be noted that the magnetic center 2 40 of the magnet 24 is vertically displaced a distance D from the magnetic center 230 of the ferromagnetic chip 23. The magnetic centers 23c and 24c of the chip and magnet 23 and 24, insofar as magnetic forces are concerned, are analogous to the center of gravity where gravitational forces are concerned. Assuming the magnet 24 and chip 23 are magnetically homogenous, the magnetic center 24c and 230 of the magnet 24 and chip 23 physically coincides with the gravitational centers of the magnet and chip. Because the magnetic center 24c of the magnet 24 is spaced above the magnetic center 23c of the chip 23 in the preferred embodiment of the selector disclosed in the earlier referenced Parry application, the attractive magnetic force M exerted on the chip 23 by the magnet 24, which is directed along a line joining the magnetic centers, has both an upward vertical component M, and a horizontal component M The upward component M, of the attractive force M exerted on the chip 23 by the magnet 24 has a tendency to tilt the unselected card 221; as the magnet 24 approaches its home position and the magnitude of the magnetic attractive forces M exerted on the chip by the magnet become appreciable. Thus, in addition to the tilting of an unselected card 22b by the frictional moment FX exerted on the unselected card by the adjacent returning selected card 22a which slides therepast, the unselected card also has a tendency to tilt by virtue of the upwardly component M, of the attractive magnetic force M exerted on the chip 23 of the unselected card 22b by the magnet 24 as the magnet nears its home position and moves from the position shown in FIG. 9 to the position shown in FIG 10.

It is significant at this point to note that while the frictional force F applied by a returning selected card 220 is only applied to those unselected cards 22b located adjacent the returning card and past which the returning card slides, the magnetic tilting force M, is applied to all unselected cards inasmuch as the magnet 24 is common to the chips 23 of all cards.

In the above-referenced Parry application the problem occasioned by the tilting of unselected cards induced by both frictional forces and magnetic forces was obviated, as best shown in FIGS. 1 1 and 12, by the combination of a transversely disposed horizontal cam member 60 located parallel to the magnet 24, and like the magnet, common to all the cards, and a cam notch 61 located in the leading edge 44 of each card at a point opposite the cam member 60. The cam member 60 has a downwardly and outwardly sloping cam edge surface 60a which cooperates with a similarly configured downwardly and outwardly sloping cam edge 61a formed by the lower portion of the notch 61. The cam 60, when it engages the cam notch 61 as the magnet 24 moves from the position shown in FIG. 11 to the position shown in FIG. 12, urges a tilted card, such as card 22b of FIG. 11, in a downward direction to bring its elevated sorting edge 32 down into contact with the platen 20 shown in FIG. 12.

The improved magnet of this invention, which overcomes the need for the cam member 60 and associated cam notches 61a utilized in the preferred embodiment of the card selector disclosed in the above-referenced Parry application and shown in this application in FIGS 11 and 12, is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 where primed reference numerals are used to depict elements having counterparts in other figures. Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14 a magnet 70 is shown which, like the magnet 24 of the preferred Parry selector, is elongated and common to the chip 71 of each of the cards 22'. The magnet 70, also like the magnet 24 of the preferred Parry selector, is mounted by means (not shown) for movement between an outer position to which selected cards 22a are positioned relative to the unselected cards 22b and an inner position in which the magnet 70 is in contact with the chip 71 of each card 22' stored in the deck.

The magnet 70 is seen to have a magnetic center 70c which is spaced below the magnetic center 71c of the chip 71. With the magnet 70 configured relative to the chip 71 such that its magnetic center 700 is below the magnetic center 710 of the chip 71, the magnet 70 exerts on the chip 71 a magnetic attractive force M. The magnetic force M, The magnetic force m, which constitutes the vector sum of the magnetic forces applied by the magnet 70 to the chip 71, has a direction which is coincident with the line joining the magnetic centers 70c and 71s of the magnet 70 and chip 71.

Since the magnetic center 70c of the magnet 70 is below the magnetic center 71c of the chip 71 the direction of the attractive force M exerted on the chip 71 by the magnet is in a downward and outward direction, providing a downward vertical component M, and an outward horizontal component M',,. The effect of the downward vertical magnetic attractive force component M, on the unselected cards 22b is manifested in two independent and distinct ways. First, due to the existence of a vertical magnetic component which is downward, instead of upward as with the Parry embodiment described above in connection with FIGS. 2-l0, the extent of tilt of unselected cards 22b which may be tilted in the direction T (FIG. 13) by virtue of the frictional couple FX as the selected cards 22a are returning to the deck is not in creased when the magnet 70 nears its home position (FIG. 14) as was the case with the preferred Parry selector.

Second, by virtue of the vertical magnetic attractive force component M, being in a downward direction, those unselected cards 22b which have been tilted in the direction T' (FIG. 13) by the frictional moment F'X' are urged downwardly as the magnet 70 approaches the home position shown in FIG. 14, tending to return the sorting edge 32' of the tilted card 22b to its proper position in contact with the platen 20'. This is in contrast to the preferred Parry selector wherein the magnet 24 urges the chip 23 of unselected cards 22b (FIG. 9 and 10) in an upward direction, tilting the cards.

While the magnet 70 and chip 7] have been shown as having rectangular vertical cross sections, it is to be understood that the vertical cross sections of the magnet 70 and chip 7] may take other forms either similar or different to each other. it is only essential, in accordance with the principles of this invention, that the magnet have a magnetic center which is below the magnetic center of the card chip.

lclaim:

In a selection system comprising:

a horizontal support platen, a plurality of vertically disposed cards having a platen-supported sorting edge with alternate registration notches and code notchable teeth and with a lock notch, said cards further having a magnetically responsive member thereon with a magnetic center, said cards normally being stored on said platen with their sorting edge lowermost,

a plurality of sorting bars disposed transversely of said sortmeans for relatively limitedly displacing said magnet and said sorting bars away from each other from said normal position, wherein said magnet contacts the magnetically responsive portions of stored cards, to partially separate cards having their respective teeth notched in conformity with the pattern of actuated sorting bars from cards not conformingly notched, said relative displacement being in a direction parallel to said sorting edges, and

barrier insertable between portions of said partially separated cards for enabling further separation of said conforming and nonconforming cards by continued relative displacement in said parallel direction.

2. In a card selection system having a horizontal support 5 platen and notch-engaging means, the improvement comprisa plurality of vertical cards normally stored on said platen in face-to-face relationship with a notched bottom sorting edge in contact with said platen,

a ferromagnetic member fixed to each of said cards adjacent a vertical edge thereof, said ferromagnetic members each having a magnetic center, and

a movable magnet disposed transversely of said stored cards adjacent and in contact with the ferromagnetic members thereof with its magnetic center adjacent and below said magnetic centers of said ferromagnetic members of said cards to bias the card sorting edges of said stored cards into contact with said platen and thereby facilitate card sorting with said notch engaging means as said magnet moves in a direction parallel to said sorting edges.

3. in a card selection system including a horizontal support platen and a plurality of vertically disposed cards normally stored on said platen in face-to-face relationship with a notched sorting edge in contact with said platen, the improvement comprising:

a ferromagnetic member fixed to each of said cards adjacent a vertical edge thereof and having a magnetic center of gravity.

a movable magnet disposed transversely to said stored cards and in contact with the ferromagnetic members thereof, said magnet having a magnetic center of gravity, and

means mounting said magnetic center of gravity adjacent UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIQN Patent No. 3v510'413 Dated October 5 r 1971 Daniel J Bandenburg Inventor(s) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 10, Line 5%, (Claim 3) after "said" insert the words ---magnet with its--'.

Signed and sealed this llrth day of March 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M. F'LETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 50376-1 69 ORM 90-1050 (10-69? R u.sv sovumunn nmrmc. omc: "a o-uc-an 

1. In a selection system comprising: a horizontal support platen, a plurality of vertically disposed cards having a platensupported sorting edge with alternate registration notches and code notchable teeth and with a lock notch, said cards further having a magnetically responsive member thereon with a magnetic center, said cards normally being stored on said platen with their sorting edge lowermost, a plurality of sorting bars disposed transversely of said sorting edges adjacent said registration notches, a sorting bar actuator for selectively moving said sorting bars into different ones of said registration notches of said articles, a magnet positionable adjacent and in contact with said magnetically responsive portions of said cards when said cards are stored on said platen, said magnet having a magnetic center disposed below said magnetic center of said magnetically responsive members for simultaneously attracting said stored cards in a vertical direction to urge said sorting edges toward said platen and in a horizontal direction, means for relatively limitedly displacing said magnet and said sorting bars away from each other from said normal position, wherein said magnet contacts the magnetically responsive portions of stored cards, to partially separate cards having their respective teeth notched in conformity with the pattern of actuated sorting bars from cards not conformingly notched, said relative displacement being in a direction parallel to said sorting edges, and a barrier insertable between portions of said partially separated cards for enabling further separation of said conforming and nonconforming cards by continued relative displacement in said parallel direction.
 2. In a card selection system having a horizontal support platen and notch-engaging means, the improvement comprising: a plurality of vertical cards normally stored on said platen in face-to-face relationship with a notched bottom sorting edge in contact with said platen, a ferromagnetic member fixed to each of said cards adjacent a vertical edge thereof, said ferromagnetic members each having a magnetic center, and a movable magnet disposed transversely of said stored cards adjacent and in contact with the ferromagnetic members thereof with its magnetic center adjacent and below said magnetic centers of said ferromagnetic memberS of said cards to bias the card sorting edges of said stored cards into contact with said platen and thereby facilitate card sorting with said notch engaging means as said magnet moves in a direction parallel to said sorting edges.
 3. In a card selection system including a horizontal support platen and a plurality of vertically disposed cards normally stored on said platen in face-to-face relationship with a notched sorting edge in contact with said platen, the improvement comprising: a ferromagnetic member fixed to each of said cards adjacent a vertical edge thereof and having a magnetic center of gravity. a movable magnet disposed transversely to said stored cards and in contact with the ferromagnetic members thereof, said magnet having a magnetic center of gravity, and means mounting said magnetic center of gravity adjacent and below the magnetic center of gravity of said cards for movement parallel to said sorting edges in a plane located parallel to said platen, said magnet physically separating selected cards from unselected cards when said magnet is moved away from said platen and for urging card sorting edges of stored cards toward said platen when said magnet is moved toward said platen and into contact with the ferromagnetic members of said stored cards. 